My political affiliation sometimes raises eyebrows among my liberal friends.
They question my support for conservative values with shocked disbelief.
They want to remind me of my race - as if it matters - saying, "But
you're black." Another familiar retort is "there is no such thing
as a black conservative - it's an oxymoron."

Oh, I think I get their thinking. As long as I am begging to be treated
like a victim, that's OK. It's normal for me to accept and even rely upon
government handouts. If I suffer a setback in life or don't get a promotion
at the office, I'm expected to cry racism. Most importantly, I should give
my votes to liberal politicians without question.

Is this what's expected of me as a black man in liberal America? I don't
think I like that stereotype. In fact, I'm offended.

Liberals seem to wonder why I'd want to be another "Chocolate Cowboy"
like Congressman J.C. Watts of Oklahoma or "Uncle [Clarence] Thomas"
on the Supreme Court or be the black man who sells out his brothers and
sisters to racist conservatives? How can I turn my back on the Democratic
Party ("your party," I'm told) - the one that allegedly gave blacks
the right to vote, affirmative action and other government programs?

Can I not make my own political decisions? I've taken a good look at
the issues, learned my life lessons and find that the free markets and freedom
from government interference advocated by conservatives appeals to me. How
dare anyone try to make me believe otherwise.

In my opinion, liberals really haven't given blacks anything. Handouts
like welfare and affirmative action do more to damage us by destroying our
ambition and focus. Preference programs need major overhauls because they
are outdated and help promote unnecessary and hostile attitudes in the workplace
such as last hired, first fired.

Racism is out there, and it unfortunately always will be. For liberals
to use victims of racism as tools to further their own agenda, however,
is as bad as anything they try to pin on conservatives. To those who tell
blacks the Democratic Party is "your party," I ask them to remember
when Ross Perot was criticized in 1992 for addressing a black audience as
"you people." Your party and you people - what's the difference?

The Republicans may need to do some image housecleaning to appeal to
black America, but remember that the Republicans were instrumental in passing
the legislation of the civil rights era. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had
the dream, and it was Republicans like President Dwight Eisenhower and Senator
Everett Dirksen who made that dream the law of the land.

And to those blacks who look upon conservative brothers and sisters with
spite and malice, I ask for a truce. We must address the problems facing
our community before it's too late. Drugs, crime, homelessness, a lack of
good jobs and a lack of good fathers in the home affect us all. If we are
divided, we will continue to be the victims some want us to be. We must
get rid of the victim mentality that plagues so many of us and work together
to create a better tomorrow.

To recycle a phrase from the Clinton impeachment, we must end the politics
of personal destruction. Congressman Watts has as much right to be a member
of the Congressional Black Caucus as any other black member despite being
a conservative Republican. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Kweisi Mfume need
to stop injecting race into politics. Justice Thomas should be recognized
for his accomplishments and not for black protests against his public appearances.
Conservative or liberal, they all deserve the right to be heard.

I'm a conservative. I'm also black, but I'm not a victim. Respect me,
please.

###

(Kevin Martin is a member of Project 21 working for an environmental
contractor in the Washington, DC area. He can be reached at [email protected].)

Note: New Visions Commentaries reflect the views of their
author, and not necessarily those of Project 21.